The Long and Winding History of Encryption

The technology that keeps your text messages private had its start on the banks of the Tigris River, 3500 years ago. The Long and Winding History of Encryption article tells the long story of the encryption. Never in history have more people had access to advanced encryption in their homes, offices, and pockets. The democratization of encryption is a recent phenomenon: Only since the 1990s has computer encryption been open and freely available. But humans have been communicating with codes and ciphers for thousands of years – this story begins more than 3000 years ago, in Mesopotamia.